Classic China Farming Experience Tour

14 days  |  13 nights
Tour Type PrivateThis is a private tour, allowing you to follow our tour itinerary. Select your own travel dates to suit your personal group of family or friends.          
Destinations Shanghai , Suzhou , Hangzhou , Xi'an , Beijing
Tour Code CET-FP02
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What customers say about us?

  • Richard and Sylvia
    British

    After looking at trip advisor, we picked 3 China based travel agencies who we thought might be able to plan a tour of the area around Beijing. One agency suggested factory tours from the outset whilst another was fairly insistent that we travel overnight by train, but Monica proved to be thoughtful and flexible.
    We have friends in Beijing and so started and ended our trip with them.
    She suggested a day trip to the Great Wall from Beijing plus a tour of Pingyao, Xi'an and Luoyang with 3 bullet train journeys and one plane flight.
    We decided not to go with a couple of her suggestions, but she was comfortable with that and re-jigged the trips to suit.
    The actual guides provided are generally contractors who can work for several agencies depending on the work available. But the choice of which guides to employ still falls on the travel agency (and availability).

    We were also very happy with our guides "Nelson" in Pingyao/Taiyuan, "Grace" in Xi'an and "Frank" in Luoyang as well as the drivers. They all turned up flawlessly on time for every appointment, helped us order lunch and always seemed happy.

    There appear to be one or two 'scams' running with guides taking commission on purchases made. But having ordered an evening dance show + meal at our hotel "Grand New World" our guide in Xi'an certainly earned what ever commission she got by making sure that my meal contained no sugar or MSG/Soy Sauce.

    Chinese drivers seem to learn to all drive at the Kamikaze school of motoring, but the drivers in Pingyao, Xi'an and Luoyang (Frank did his own driving) (also contracted but independently of the guides) did a good job of not frightening us too much.

    Chinese cyclists and motor cyclists don't even follow the correct direction of flow and often drive on the wrong side of the road. Chinese drivers hoot constantly if they want to overtake and can't quite squeeze by!

    Coffee in China generally doesn't seem very good (apart from at the large American chains).

    The Tian yuan kui hostel in Pingyao is an interesting mixture of traditional and modern. The staff were extremely lovely and the food was tasty. The hundreds of recommendations on A3 sheets on the wall in English, French, Italian, Spanish and other languages were also testament to that.

    The Grand New World hotel in Xi'an was a slice of America transported to China. Service was slightly variable. E.g. I had to go to 3 receptionists in order to find the one who was allowed to do checkouts. English from staff was variable though usually adequate.

    The Peony Hotel in Luoyang was also like a slice of America. Our safe would not work as it had no batteries in it. We struggled with language problems for about half an hour to get 4 new batteries to fit into it and then to get the Chinese maintenance lady to fit them right way round.

    The manager agreed a special picnic lunch for our train journey, but I ended up having to explain to francophone Chinese tour guide in French what we needed! But I guess episodes like this make a tour more interesting.

    Many thanks to Monica for arranging this memorable holiday.

    Date of experience: 01/09/2017-13/09/2017
  • Jenny and Bevan
    Australia

    We had an amazing trip, thank you so much for all your hard work in putting together our itinerary. All the guides were wonderful and their knowledge was incredible. They could not do enough for us and were always punctual, polite and fun.The hotels were very well chosen, great locations, rooms were beautiful and food was abundant.

    We even had an upgrade on arrival in Bejing which was a lovely way to start our holiday.  By the time Peter had finished with us in Bejing, I think I knew all there was to know about the Emperors and Dynasties. What would have helped would have been a “Time Line” brochure, so we could refer to which period was being talked about and where each Emperor fit in as there was so much to remember. Although we had a very full itinerary, I would have liked to see the Silk Road Markets in Bejing, I hear they are very interesting.The terracotta Soldiers in Xien were far more impressive than I had thought they would be. Grace was such a lovely Guide and obviously very proud of her job and what she has to show her guests.While we were in Guilin Amber suggested we take the chair lift to the top of a mountain and view Guilin from there.  I am so glad we did, it was amazing.

    Bevan came back down on the chairlift and I decided to take the louge with Amber, it was so much fun, even for someone my age (54).As we were a little early for the acrobatic show in Shanghai, Colin very kindly took us to a wonderful shopping precinct close by to the theatre, this was very much appreciated and I believe should be added to the itinerary. Colin also suggested we take the night cruise which we loved, Shangahi is so beautiful at night and what a great way to see it. The “Mag Lev” train to the airport was fantastic, my husband had always wanted to do this and was not disappointed, I think this should be offered as an extra when selling Shanghai.

    All our drivers were fantastic. We felt safe at all times even though the traffic in China was very different to what we are used to. The only thing that would
    have been nice was to return to a cool vehicle, although this was not always possible I am sure.

    The only thing that I was sometimes disappointed with was the choice of lunch venues. We chose your company because it was for small groups or in our case, only two people, and in some places we were in large dining rooms with large groups of tourists. I am sure these places are chosen for their locations and the food which was served which was wonderful.
     
    We had a most wonderful holiday and I will most certainly recommend China Expedition Tours to everyone.  I do hope we can visit China again very soon.
     
    Kindest regards
    Jenny and Bevan 

    Jenny and Bevan02.jpg

    Date of experience: 19/08/2017-03/09/2017
  • Reg Dewhurst
    Australia

    Hi Monica.The tour went very well and as I said to Helen.we can never prepare a tour in China so we will be looking  to another 4 or 5 cities to do next time with you help. lease note that what I say below is not critical but for you to give some thought to.

    Beijing:Guide Rock was good in so much as picking us up and listening to what we asked of him in information. He could have been more forward  in pointing out things of interest without us having to ask as I think that is his job and he should be constantly pointing out things of interest for but he spent majority of time talking to the driver  (about what we do not know as it was Chinese)    
          
    Xian:Grace was very good and we learnt so much. The hotel was the best I have
    been in for a long time. My previous 2 visits the hotels were in the centre and only average.

    Guilin:Lizzie kept us informed and entertained. I think  the rice fields tour should be included in your tours as they really enjoyed it.The better rice field tour I have been on twice was unavailable due to road works.
    Shanghai:Guilie was good but could do a little more talking about matters of interest.I think one water town visit is enough as the 2nd is virtually the same as the first.There must be other items of interest in such a large city.

    Thanks again for your interest in our discussion and ging them an insight into China.Best wishes to Alex and the future for the company.
              
    Reg

    Reg Dewhurst02.jpg

    Date of experience: 19/05/2017-31/05/2017
  • Aisling Judge
    England

    Hi Alex, The tour that you arranged for us on Oct 11, 2012 was excellent. We enjoyed it very much. Upon arrival at Guilin airport on Oct 10th, you met us and from then on our pleasures continued. Guilin is a very lovely city in my mind but we don't arrange more time there. Soon we went to Kunming and continued our tour with another exellent guide. And the last tour in Beijing, the Forbidden City was very informative. The environment in Beijing restaurants was outstanding, have never seen such beautiful restaurants, so stylishly decorated before! Hotels were very good for the most part as well as their breakfasts. China Expedition Tours was an excellent choice for us, very flexible tours (which helps when travelling with a baby), also very informative and able to answer questions very quickly. We will be using CET again! Sincerely, Aisling Judge England

    Date of experience: 11/10/2016-26/10/2016
  • James
    the U.A

    Dear Jessica,

    My friend and I had a wonderful time trip in China. We were impressed with the quality of the hotels and food, and the knowledge of local tour guides.We learned so much about Chinese history and culture! Your guides were so patient and helpful in answering our questions and accommodating our special requests.

    Our only suggestion would be to allow more free time in each of the cities like relaxing at a cafe to enjoy the atmosphere or strollin in the city street. On the other hand, there is so much to see, so we were glad that the itinerary was full.

    We have already recommended your company to some of our friends. Your well-run service is worth of it.Thanks again for the wonderful experience.

    Best regards,

    J.Marine

    Date of experience: 01/08/2012-11/08/2012
  • Earl
    U.K.

    The quality of the trips was generally good. The best experience was hiking on the Great Wall in Beijing. All guides were professional, service oriented and well trained. All guides had a fairly good command of English, some better, some less. The normal communication went well. We were very much pleased with Alex, our guide in Shanghai, who gave us very useful and to the point information. We very much appreciated his great sense of humor. All cars were clean and the drivers were always punctual and did their best to bring us safely to the visit sites. The whole trip was extremely well organized. Everything went smoothly without incidents and we are fully satisfied with the organization provided by CET. Best regards,

    Date of experience: 04/09/2016-01/11/2016

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